Medical Cannabis Research

Osteoarthritis and cannabis – Information comes from scientists in the UK and USA, published in PLOS ONE in 2013. Osteoarthritis pain is challenging to treat, with chronic pain leading to central sensitization. Cannabinoids can help. This data provides new clinically relevant evidence that joint damage and spinal CB2 receptor expression are correlated combined with converging pre-clinical evidence that activation of CB2 receptors inhibits central sensitization and its contribution to the manifestation of chronic OA pain. These findings suggest that targeting CB2 receptors may have therapeutic potential for treating OA pain.

Endocannabinoid Anandamide and Breast Cancer – more evidence. This 2014 study out of Italy, published in the journal Translational Medicine, found that following anandamide treatment, MDA-MB-231 cells lose their ability to stimulate endothelial cells proliferation in vitro, due to a significant inhibition of all the pro-angiogenic factors produced by these cells. This finding adds another piece of evidence to the anti-tumor efficacy of anandamide in breast cancer. read more…

THC and breast cancer – Little is known about the effect of cannabinoids on the cell cycle, the main process controlling cell fate. This study out of Spain, published in a 2006 issue of Cancer Research, shows that Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), through activation of CB2 cannabinoid receptors, reduces human breast cancer cell proliferation by blocking the progression of the cell cycle and by inducing apoptosis

From 2014 research published in the Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology on the use of cannabis while being treated for Hepatitis C comes this study that concludes: “Our analysis did not identify clear benefit or harm attributable to marijuana use on measures of liver histology.” read more…

As reported in the August, 2014 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine, this research shares an examination of the association between medical cannabis laws and opioid analgesic overdose mortality. Each year after implementation of the law showed that such laws were associated with a lower rate of overdose mortality that generally strengthened over time. read more…

Published in the July 2014 issue of Translational Psychiatry, this study out of Vanderbilt University provides support that endocannabinoid augmentation is a viable pharmacological strategy for the treatment of stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders.

This 2004 study by Ethan Russo, published in the journal Neuroendocrinology, examines the concept of clinical endocannabinoid deficiency and the prospect that it could underlie the pathophysiology of migraine, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome and other functional conditions alleviated by clinical cannabis. read more…

This study, published in the June 2014 issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, describes more than 100 patients reporting about the therapeutic satisfaction with their pharmaceutical-grade cannabis product. Furthermore, differences in subjective effects among the available strains are investigated. read more…

Published in the British Journal of Cancer in 2006, these scientists reported ‘the first clinical study aimed at assessing cannabinoid antitumoral action, specifically a pilot phase I trial in which nine patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme were administered THC intratumoraly. The patients had previously failed standard therapy (surgery and radiotherapy) and had clear evidence of tumour progression’. read more…

Published in the Spring 2014 issue of Sonoma Medicine, this article asks physicians to: “For just a few minutes, try to set aside your ideas and opinions about cannabis. Forget about the pot-heads, the pot-docs, the stoners, the jokes, the dispensaries, the bud tenders and the feds.”